Car door mechanism



July 19, 1932. w. E. Wm: ET AL 7,7

CAR DOOR MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet I l I I I v I I July 19,- 1932. w. E. WINE E1 AL I GAR DOOR MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 19, 1932 UNETED STATES PATENT .oFrcE WILLIAIM E. WINE, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, AND BYERS W. KADEL, F BALTIMORE, MARY- LAND CAB DOOR MECHANISM Application filed September 25, 1930. Serial No. 484,437.

Our invention relates to car door mechanism and more particularly to improvements in such mechanism disclosed in a co-pending application of William E. Wine, Serial No.

273,746, filed April 28, 1928.

The principal object of the invention is to provide the car door mechanism with improved means for maintaining the pivoted door supporting hooks thereof in elevated or inoperative positions.

A primary feature of the invention consists in providing a door mechanism having a plurality of hooks, each of which is adapted to support the door at the same side of the car 5 with means cooperable with the hooks for supporting them in inoperative position, said means being adapted to permit the hooks to be moved independently to inoperative position and to permit the hook last to be rendered inoperative to be moved to such position without effecting the release from said means of the hook first rendered inoperative.

Other and more specific features of the invention residing in advantageous forms, combinations and relations of parts will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings illustrating preferred enibodiments of the invention:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a hopper of a railway car and its coacting door showing the invention applied thereto, the door being in fully closed posi tion.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 22, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Figure 1, but showing the relation of parts when the mechanism supports the door in one of a plurality of partial positions of closure.

Figure 1 is a detail fragmentary view illustrating the manner of maintaining the pivoted hooks in elevated position.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 illustrating a modified arrangement of maintaining the hooks in an elevated position.

While the drawings illustrate a single hopper and the adjacent edge of the coacting n door, it is to be understood that the construction is duplicated on the opposite side of the car and that the door illustrated is but one of a pair of doors connected by a spreader. or stifiening member, so as to swing as one.

In the drawings, 1 is the sloping side sheet of the hopper and 2 indicates the swinging door for closing the discharge opening thereof. The door is secured to the car body by suitable hinges (not shown) so as to swing to open position under the influence of gravity.

Mounted upon the outer face of the door is a spreader or stiffening member 3 of any desired structural shape having one flange 4 secured to the door, by rivets 5 and another flange 6 projecting outwardly therefrom.

Rigidly secured to the outstanding flange of the door spreader, as by means of rivets 7 is an arm or member 8 which is offset at 9 to pass around the side marginal flange 10 of the door so as to project outwardly therebeyond. v

The side sheet of the hopper may be conveniently formed with a flanged portion 11 to cooperate with the door. and its marginal flange for preventing the escape of lading from the hopper When the door is in fully closed position.

Pivotally mounted on the side sheet of the hopper are a plurality of hooks l2 and 13, respectively arranged so as to swing in substantially parallel planes. A filler casting 14 is preferably interposed between the inner book 13 and the adjacent side of the hopper for spacing the hooks outwardly therefrom while overlying the outer face of the hook 12 is a bracket or cover plate 17 The filler casting and cover plate are formed with inwardly projecting apertured'lugs or bosses 16 and 18, respectively, to receive rivets 19, 20 and 21 for connecting these parts to the hopper. The boss of the cover plate through which the rivet 20 extends serves as a pivotal support for the hooks 12 and13. Each of the hooks is provided with a plurality of ledges or shoulders 22 for cooperating with the upstanding flange 4 ofthe door to maintain the door in different positions of partial closure, the hook 12 being also fashioned with a main ledge or shoulder 23 for su orting the door in fully closed positiony providing the hooks with a plurality of shoulders or ledges it will be perceived that the door may be supported or maintained in any number of different positions, as indicated by the dot, dash lines, lettered A to E, inclusive, so that the discharge of lading such as ballast and the like may be effectively controlled, or regulated.

The hooks 12 and 13 are formed with outwardly projecting lugs or extensions 26 and 27 whereby they may be conveniently operated by a removable lever 25. By positioning the lever in the manner shown in Figure 1 the outer hook 12, upon rotation of the lever in a clockwise direction will be moved from engagement with the door arm and the door will be permitted to move open until it engages the first ledge of the inner hook 13. Should it be desired to open the door to a greater extent the lever is positioned in the manner shown in Figure 3 and upon being rotated in a counterclockwise direction will force the inner hook upwardly and at the same time force the outer hook downwardly so that the door arm will engage the next ledge of the latter hook.

A rotatable cam 29 is employed for looking the hooks when the door is supported in fully closed position, the cam being so arranged as to overlap the upper marginal edges of both of the hooks. The apertured lug or boss of the cover plate 17 through which the rivet 19 extends constitutes a pivotal support for the cam.

As stated above, and as is well known, the door illustrated in the drawings is but one of a pair of doors which are rigidly connected by the spreader or stiffening member 3 and the door mechanism shown is likewise but one of two employed for supporting the connected doors, the mechanisms being arranged on opposite sides of the car. When it is desired to permit the doors to swing from fully closed tofully open position instead of sustaining them in a partial position of closure it is necessary, especially when the doors are being manipulated by only one operator that suitable means be provided whereby after the hooks of one of the mechanisms have been moved into inoperative position they may be maintained in that position while the hooks of the other mechanism on the opposite side of the car are being moved into inoperative position; otherwise, since the spreader and connected doors are not sufficiently flexible to permit the door arm which cooperates with the hooks of the mechanism first released to move beyond those hooks, one of the auxiliary ledges thereof would, upon the release of the books of the other mechanism, engage the door arm and thus prevent the door from swinging entirely open. The means provided for maintaining the hooks in elevated or inoperative position may advantageously involve lugs 32 and 33 respectively formed on the inner and outer hooks adapted to cooperate with the locking cam 29 when the latter has been rotated intoan inoperative position. As may be seen in Figure 3 before the hooks are moved into an inoperative position the" cam rests upon the lugs 32 and 33 of the hooks. However, when the hooks are elevated to such an extent that their lugs will pass clear of the adjacent portion of the cam the cam will rotate downwardly under the influence of gravity so as to be interposed between the cover plate 17 and the lugs, thus preventing the hooks from moving downwardly into operative position.

Although the hooks may be simultaneously raised into inoperative positions from the positions shown in Figure 1 it is preferred to first move the inner hook into inoperative position as this may be easily accomplished by hand and then subsequently moving the outer hook into inoperative position. To prevent the outer hook, when it is the last one to be moved into inoperative position, from rotating the cam to such an extent that the inner hook will be released from the cam and thereby be permitted to assume an operative position the portion of the cam, designated by the reference numeral 34, which cooperates with the lug 32 of the inner hook is of greater extent than the portion of the cam, designated by the reference numeral 35, which cooperates with the lug 33 of the outer hook. Thus it will be seen that when the inner hook is supported in inoperative position, as shown in Figure 1, movement of the outer hook into inoperative position will not affect disengagement of the cam and the lug 32. After the lug 33 moves beyond the cam as the outer hook is being moved into inoperative position the cam is caused to rotate downwardly in a counterclockwise direction by the force which is transmitted to it from the inner hook. Thus it will be seen that as soon as the projection 33 moves beyond the cam the portion 35 thereof moves downwardly into the path of movement of the lug 33.

Instead of forming the portions 34 and 35 of the cam in a manner described for preventing the outer hook, when it is moved to inoperative position, from causing the cam to move out of engagement with the lug 32 of the inner hook this same result may be accomplished by making the lugs of unequal length or height as illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings. In this'view it will be perceived that the lug 39 formed on the inner hook is of greater height than the lug 40 formed on the outer hook while the portion 38 of the cam which cooperates with the lugs is: of uniform depth. In each form'of the invention it will be perceived that the portion of the cam cooperating with the lug on the inner hook overlaps that lug to a greater extent than it overlaps the lug on the outer hook.

From the foregoing it will be perceived that simple and rugged means has been provided whereby the pivoted hooks may be separately moved and maintained in inoperative positions.

We claim:

1. In a railway car having a lading discharge opening, the combination with a hinged door for closing the opening, said door being movable to open position under the influence of gravity, of mechanism for maintaining the door in a plurality of partial positions of closure for regulating the discharge of lading from the car, said mechanism involving pivotally mounted means and fixedly mounted means, one of said means being carried by the car body and the other by the door, said pivotally mounted means comprising a plurality of relatively movable members, and means for maintaining said members in elevated inoperative positions, said means having portions adapted to respectively overlappingly engage portions of said members, the overlapped portion of one of said members being greater than the overlapped portion of the other of said members.

2. In a railway car having a lading discharge opening, the combination with a hinged door for closing the opening, said door being movable to open position under the influence of gravity, of mechanism for maintaining the door in a plurality of partial positions of closure for regulating the discharge of lading from the car, said mechanism involving pivotally mounted means and fixedly mounted means, one of said means being carried by the car body and the other by the door, said pivotally mounted means comprising a plurality of relatively movable members, each of said members having an upwardly projecting lug, and rotatable means having portions respectively adapted to be disposed in overlapping relation with said lugs for maintaining said members in elevated inoperative position, said lugs and the cooperating portions of the rotatable means being arranged so that one of said lugs will be overlapped to a greater extent than the other of said lugs.

3. In a railway car having a lading discharge opening, the combination with a. hinged door for closing the opening, said door being movable to open position under the influence of gravity, of mechanism for maintaining the door in a plurality of partial positions of closure for regulating the discharge of lading from the car, said mechanism involving pivotally mounted means and fixedly mounted means, one of said means being carried by the car body and the other by the door, said pivotally mounted means comprising a plurality of relatively movable members, each of said members having an upwardly projecting lug, and rotatable means having portions cooperable with said lugs for maintaining the members in elevated inoperative positions, the portion of the rotatable means cooperable with one of said lugs being of greater depth than the portion thereof cooperable with the other of said lugs. I

4. In a railway car having a lading discharge opening, the combination with a hinged door for closing the opening, said door being movable to open position under the influence of gravity, of mechanism 'for maintaining the door in a plurality of partial positions of closure for regulating the dis charge of lading from the car, said mechanism involving pivotally mounted means and fiXedly mounted means, one of said means being carried by the car body and the other by the door, said pivotally mounted means comprising a plurality of relatively movable members, each of said members having an upwardly projecting lug and one of said lugs being of greater height than the other of said lugs, and rotatable means having portions respectively cooperable with said lugs for maintaining the members in elevated inoperative positions.

5. In a railway car having a lading discharge opening, the combination with a hinged door for closing the opening, said door being movable to open position under the influence of gravity, of mechanism for maintaining the door in a plurality of partial positions of closure for regulating the discharge of lading from the car, said. mechanism involving a plurality of hooks pivotally mounted on the car and an arm rigidly secured to the door, each of said hooks having an upwardly projecting lug, and rotatable means havlng portions respectively adapted to be disposed in overlapping relation with said lugs for maintaining said hooks in elevated inoperative positions, the portion of one of said lugs overlapped by aid rotatable means being greater than the portion of the other lug overlapped by the latter.

6. In a railway car having a lading discharge opening, the combination with a hinged door for closing the opening, said door being movable to open position under the influence of gravity, of mechanism for maintaining the door in a plurality of partial positions of closure for regulating the discharge of lading from the car, said mechanism involving a plurality of hooks pivotally mounted on the car and an arm rigidly secured to the door, each of said hooks having an upwardly projecting lug, and rotatable means having portion respectively cooperable with said lugs for maintaining the members in elevated inoperative positions, the portion of the rotatable means cooperable with one of said lugs being of greater depth than the portion thereof cooperable with the other of said lugs.

I tures.

77.. In a railway'carhaving a lading, discharge opening, the combination With a hinged door for closing theopening, said door being'movable to. open position under the influence of gravity, of mechanismfor maintaining the door in a plurality of partial positions of closure for regulating the dischargeof lading from the car, aidmeohanism involving a plurality of hooks pivotally mounted. on the car and an arm rigidly secured t0 the door, each of said members having an upwardly projecting lug and one of said lugs heingof greater height than the other of said lugs, and rotatable means having portions respectively cooperable With saidjlug'slfor maintaining the membersrin elevated inoperative positions.

In testimony whereof We aflix oursigna- WILLIAM. E. WVINE. BYERS W. KADEL. 

